This heartless scam comes at a time when hearing that a loved one is in need of some financial support to pay urgent bills may not be too much of a surprise.
Earlier this year, Action Fraud warned that between 3 February and 21 June this year it had received 1,235 reports of criminals posing on WhatsApp as loved ones in need, amounting to a total financial loss of £1.5m.
And now, we have evidence that scammers are branching out from WhatsApp and also using text messages to target victims. Here, we show you what this scam typically looks like, how to avoid it and how to report it.
